Springfield Update – Helping Those Who Help Themselves

May 18, 2016

There’s an old saying about the wisdom of helping those who are also willing to help themselves. I couldn’t help but think of this saying recently as I reviewed details of the latest proposal to reform how we fund public schools in Illinois.

There’s no question that our current formula for funding schools is broken. It allows for huge disparities from one region to another in dollars that are available to spend on students. Some of that disparity is by chance (despite local efforts, there is simply not enough property wealth in the district to raise adequate property tax revenue for schools), but some is by choice (the property wealth is there, but local officials refuse to tap into it). Read more at Positively Naperville.